{"id":409,"date":"2012-11-09T15:25:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T20:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/?p=409"},"modified":"2012-11-09T16:46:53","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T21:46:53","slug":"back-to-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/back-to-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

(…originally published at StartMarriageRight.com<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up, one of my favorite video games was Zelda. In addition to the combat and puzzles, my favorite part was discovering and conquering unknown levels. As the player, you\u2019d know how much of a particular level you\u2019d discovered based on the map in the lower right corner. However, in beginning each new level, the map resets to black. As you progressed in the new level, it would only illuminate where you\u2019d previously been. The main component missing on the map: Where you were going.<\/p>\n

Unknown territory, enemies, and lands all waiting in darkness to be discovered. As in real life, the map is a very crucial part of the game. Without it, the player\/character would be doomed to revisit the same board or level over and over again. Our life map looks very similar to that of Zelda: Portions are illuminated because we\u2019ve previously visited, and portions are darkened awaiting our visit. Unfortunately, many rarely visit the darkened portions of maps because of fear.<\/p>\n

The known or the unknown?<\/strong>\u00a0A common phrase that holds people back from getting more out of life is \u201cfear of the unknown.\u201d People are afraid of what might happen in the future if they pursue a public speaking job, start a blog, confront a friend or loved one, ask a girl on a date, or any number of risky vulnerabilities. For some the \u201cfear of the unknown\u201d is what to do with success, and for others it\u2019s what to do with failure. These questions about the future are only powerful because this \u201cfear of the unknown\u201d is quite the opposite: It\u2019s the fear of the known.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid of spiders because of what I\u2019ve seen\u2014what I know. What they can do to someone doesn\u2019t bring comforting thoughts or feelings to myself (perhaps watching the movie arachnophobia as a kid didn\u2019t help matters). If I\u2019d never been exposed to the harm of a black widow, brown recluse or other poisonous spiders, I probably wouldn\u2019t be afraid. But I have been exposed to these potential dangers and thus I carry a warranted known fear of spiders.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s impossible to fear the unknown.<\/strong>\u00a0We are afraid of what we know\u2014those things\u00a0we have previously uncovered or discovered. In playing Zelda, you have a sense what\u2019s located in the undiscovered portions of the map only because you\u2019ve been to previously undiscovered places. But you never know what was there until you\u2019ve experienced it yourself.<\/p>\n

As humans, we\u2019re born with fear. Fear is that feeling that alerts your senses to potential danger or potential vulnerabilities. We react out of our fears to keep ourselves safe. It\u2019s our human survival instinct, and is often referred to as Fight, Flight, or Freeze. We do any of these three in reaction to danger, to a fear. My fear of spiders is based on different literature I\u2019ve read, movies I\u2019ve watched, and being personally bitten many times by these minuscule beasts.<\/p>\n

Though my encounter with spiders is a tangible example, the far more devastating and dangerous fears are what we do with our dreams and desires. Fear elicits feelings of being out of control, and we humans do not do out of control well. These feelings cause our fears to blind us to what\u2019s present today by diverting our attention into the future; to what we can control. If pursuing one\u2019s dream feels scary or out of control, the easiest way to gain control is to come up with an excuse as to why we cannot. The statement of \u201cfearing the unknown\u201d is an excuse. It\u2019s an easy pass out of the tension of facing reality today.<\/p>\n

In college my friends and I would go mountain biking in the Ozark Mountains. It was an exhilarating way to spend an afternoon away from studying and the hard life of a college student. Upon cresting a hill, we\u2019d stop at the top and choose a direction downwards. As we surveyed the impending descent, working up the courage to propel our bodies off the ledge, one or all would say, \u201cno falls, no balls.\u201d And with that, we\u2019d push off and fly down the hill. Sometimes flying down the hill turned into crashing down the hill. After a crash, there\u2019d always be an increase of fear at the next hill.<\/p>\n

Conquering fear requires facing it head-on.<\/strong>\u00a0There is no way to get around it. Shortcuts will only intensify and prolong what you are trying to avoid. The way to conquer supposed \u201cfear of the unknown\u201d, is to face the fears that you do know. Face the fears that are presenting themselves today, and take them one step at a time. Look back to where you\u2019ve been, and you\u2019ll find reasons and stories that illuminate the fears of the future. In a sense, by taking a look where you\u2019ve been, you\u2019ll get to go back to the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(…originally published at StartMarriageRight.com) Growing up, one of my favorite video games was Zelda. In addition to the combat and puzzles, my favorite part was discovering and conquering unknown levels. As the player, you\u2019d know how much of a particular level you\u2019d discovered based on the map in the lower right corner. However, in beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[13,12,1],"tags":[36,37,53,40],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-couples","category-life_process","tag-authenticity","tag-emotion","tag-fear","tag-risk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBack to the Future — Five Minute Sherpa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/back-to-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to the Future — Five Minute Sherpa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(…originally published at StartMarriageRight.com) Growing up, one of my favorite video games was Zelda. 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